"Football is not a matter of life and death, it is more important than that."
The Iron Duke
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The Iron Duke, Bobby Windsor and Peter Jackson, Edinburgh and London, Mainstream, 2010
Bobby Windsor played 28 full internationals for Wales, 1973-79 and went on two Lions tours. He was part of the legendary Pontypool front row, which represented club, country and the Lions with such distinction.
The book gives a fascinating insight into the life of the elite Rugby player in the age of amateurism. To the modern reader, the idea of the best hooker in the world deciding to leave Cardiff Rugby Club because of the need to catch two buses in each direction to get to training – after a full day’s work in the steel works, seems unbelievable.
Other stories of life in the amateur era included having sixpence docked from his expenses because he had claimed an extra mile or two on the journey to Welsh training, being accused of being a professional because he accepted £25 for travel and dinner to play in a game and only being allowed one international shirt for the season!
Former colleague and now BBC TV commentator, Eddie Butler, says of him: “Bobby Windsor was the best player I ever played with. Sublimely skilful, a good footballer who was very quick...He was also vicious, the most cold-hearted brute you would never wish to see standing over you at a ruck”. (Page 184)
Windsor sums up his own approach: “I was absolutely ruthless…my philosophy was pretty basic: do it to them before they do it to you” (Page 110) and “I never had any confidence in my hooking, my ability to strike for the ball…I knew that sometimes I’d have to be a naughty boy and do things to make sure I got my own way. Other times I didn’t get my own way becaue there were some naughtier boys on the other side” (Page 38)
The most interesting chapter is undoubtedly the inside story of the 1974 Lions door to South Africa and the Lions historic win und Willie John McBride. In contrast there is the frustration of the defeat in New Zealand in the 1977 series. The 1974 tour is put in perspective by the revelation that Windsor’s reaction to selection was to take a second job as a bouncer to compensate for the loss of earnings when on tour and the fact that two days after the tour he was back cycling to work.
The violence in the game in that era is shocking. Without the TV cameras covering every angle and post-match citing, players got away with a great deal. Windsor played nine or ten times against France and had his nose broken all but once – not that he was the innocent victim.
An excellent insight into Rugby in pre-professional era. Very readable